Mung Bean Soup (Ginisang Munggo)

This is classic Filipino rainy day fare and as it stands, it has been raining here in Florida for 4 days now. Coming from California, though, I can't complain. It could be our imagination but rain water seems to make the vegetable garden grow faster as compared to watering it.

Mung Bean Soup in Philippines is typically not eaten by itself, but instead as a vegetable side dish accompanied by steamed rice and fried fish. This particular recipe has pork in it but you can substitute shrimp or even make it vegetarian and add mushrooms instead and more leafy greens.

Mung Beans are in the legume family so right off the bat, you know it is high in fiber, low in saturated fat and contains no cholesterol. They are also high in vitamins and minerals such as protein, vitamin C, folic acid, iron and zinc to name a few. Mung Beans are high in purines though so if you suffer from gout, moderation is key.

Mung Bean Soup ( Ginisang Munggo)

Mung Bean Soup (GinisangMunggo)

1 pound dried Mung Beans (munggo)
1 big sliced tomato
1 small onion halved and thin sliced
7 cloves garlic minced
1 pork cube
1 lb pork shoulder or belly medium diced
1 Anaheim chile
thumb size ginger
1 bunch spinach or any leafy greens you like
20 each squash blossoms
8 cups of water
salt or fish sauce to taste

Procedure

-soak the beans overnight
-in a large pot, boil the beans for an hour or until tender
-once tender, turn the fire on low. stir occasionally to prevent from  the beans from sticking to the pan
-on a separate pan, brown the pork and once golden, add the garlic, onions and tomato and sweat
-once the garlic, onions and tomato have softened, add it back to the pot of beans
-add the pork cubes and the fish sauce and simmer until the pork is tender. about 30 minutes
-depending on how thick you want the soup, you may choose to add water to think it out
-to finish, add the spinach and squash blossoms

serve hot and Enjoy!